Just Friends
by Sheila Skeeter
Summary: This is a LilyJames FanFic. It takes place on their sixth year at Hogwarts.
1. Reunions

Just Friends

By sheilajsn

Summary: This is a Lily/James FanFic. It takes place on their sixth year at Hogwarts, and it's the continuation of my first FF, A Beginning. So I suggest that you read that one first so you know why James and Lily seem to be friends now.

Disclaimer: I wish I were JKR, but I'm not. I'm just borrowing the characters that she created and using them in my humble attempt of a FanFic. I've also use some text from the books here and there, so if something sounds familiar to you, it probably is.

There will be HBP spoilers. I won't include a whole lot of information, but bits and pieces here and there. So be warned.

**Chapter One: Reunions**

Lily Evans, a fifteen-year-old girl with thick, dark red hair and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes, went through the barrier that separated the Muggle side of the King Cross Station from the Platform 9 ¾, from where the Hogwarts Express would depart taking all the students to another year in the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. Lily had just taken a couple of steps pushing a luggage trolley when she heard her name being called.

"Lily! There you are!" A blonde girl was walking toward her with a wide smile in her round face and a cheerful look on her blue eyes.

"Alice!" Lily hugged her best friend, Alice Logan. They didn't stay in touch during the summer because Alice was visiting France with her family. Lily didn't realize how much she had missed her. "So, you had a good summer?"

"The best." Alice smiled even wider. "I have news that you won't believe."

"Then start talking," Lily said.

"Not now, and definitely not here." Alice grabbed Lily's arm. "We have to get ourselves on the train."

Both girls started walking toward the train pushing the luggage trolleys. Alice asked excited, "how were your OWL results?"

"I got twelve OWLs!" Lily exclaimed.

"What anyone would have expected of our little Miss Evans," Alice said with a smirk. "I got ten OWLs, and I managed to get all the classes I need to get into Auror training."

"That's great Alice!" Lily gave her friend a half hug. By that time they had already reached the train and started to unload their trunks from the trolleys.

"So," Lily tried to sound casual. "Have you seen anybody?"

Alice's eyebrow went up at the same time she was trying hard not to laugh.

"You mean if I've seen James Potter?" she asked grinning. "No, I haven't. But then again, I just got here."

Lily blushed. She wouldn't have thought Alice could see right through her.

"I didn't mean…" she muttered.

"Oh, come on Lily!" Alice interrupted her. "It's me you're talking to. Your best friend in the whole world." She passed her arm over Lily's shoulders. "You might have realized you like James two months ago, but I've known for ages."

"We're just friends." Lily was not giving up that easily.

"You keep telling yourself that Lils."

The two girls got to an empty compartment and put their trunks on the luggage rack. When they sat down Alice asked Lily.

"Do you know Frank Longbotton?"

"Well of course I know Frank," Lily answered rolling her eyes. "He's only a year older than us, and a Gryffindor Prefect. A little hard to miss."

"What do you think about him?" Alice insisted.

"Why?" Lily was confused. Alice had never talked about Frank before.

"Can you just answer the question?" Alice asked frowning.

"Okay!" Lily remembered Frank for a second, then said, "he is very nice and smart, and he's always willing to help anybody with classes and homework... I don't know Alice, I've never talked to him long enough to really get to know him."

"But you think he is a nice person?"

"I already said he's nice and he's also very kind. A gentleman," she said a little annoyed, and added, "not something I can say about many others."

"Can we focus here and not talk about James for five whole minutes?"

"Alice, what's wrong with you?"

Alice looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry Lily. I'm just a little anxious."

"But why?" She wished her friend would tell her what was happening. "Since when you're so interested in Frank Longbotton?"

"Since I'm dating him." Alice's voice was not louder than a whisper.

"What!" Lily jumped on her seat. "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me you liked Frank? Aren't we supposed to be best friends?"

Alice was trying to talk but kept getting cut off by Lily's endless list of questions.

"Can you shut up for a second!" Alice had to shout to get her friend's attention. "At least if you want to know the answers to all those questions".

"Okay. But you have to tell me everything." Lily sat down again at the same time the train started moving. "Every little detail."

"Well, you know I went to France with my parents because dad had this international Aurors thing." Lily nodded and Alice continued. "Of course there were a lot of Aurors there and Frank's dad happens to be one too."

"I didn't know that."

"Neither did I. The thing is that Frank was also there, and we were the only two people who were younger than thirty. So obviously, we started to spend time together."

"And…" Lily urged her friend.

"And we got very close. We like all the same things. He also wants to be an Auror, and he has the OWLs for it, and I'm sure he's going to get the NEWTs this year." Alice closed her eyes for a moment. She looked like she was remembering. "Oh Lily! He is so sweet and kind. And he is so clever too. I can't wait for you two to really get to know each other."

"Alice, I don't know what to say. You haven't so much as glance at Frank… ever! This is really unexpected." Lily was a bit worried about her friend.

"Well, not all of us have liked the same guy since our first year at Hogwarts while pretending to hate him because we couldn't accept the truth." Lily glared at her. "Some of us are a lot less complicated," Alice finished with a smile.

Lily was about to say that she didn't like James when the compartment door swung open and a tall, dark-haired guy stuck his head in. Sirius Black was smiling widely, what made his gray eyes sparkle.

"Evans, Logan," he said in a sweet voice. "How very pleased I am to see you both. Exactly the ladies me and my associates were looking for."

"Hi Sirius!" said Alice cheerfully.

"Why exactly were you looking for us?" Lily asked with a tone of apprehension in her voice.

"Evans, loosen up." He went back to the corridor and shouted, "hey! What are you doing down there? I already found them." Then he walked in and sat in front of the two girls.

"So, how was your summer?" he asked them.

They looked at each other and started giggling.

"That good?" Sirius eyed them suspiciously, but he didn't have a chance to say anything else because Remus Lupin was standing at the door, looking as pale and exhausted as usual.

"There you are Alice," he said, and then he seemed to realize something and continued. "Sorry girls. Where are my manners? Hi Alice! Hi Lily! You guys had a nice summer?"

But before either of them could answer Sirius talked. "Apparently very good. But I think you're not supposed to ask."

Lily and Alice shared a complicity look.

"You see," Sirius continued. "They're not talking."

"They must have their reasons, Sirius." Remus winked at the girls. "Anyway, Alice…"

He was interrupted by the arrival of another guy, this one with glasses and very untidy black hair. He was smiling widely when he walked in the compartment and his hazel eyes were fixed on Lily.

"Hi Alice!" James Potter said without looking at her. "Hi Lily! How was…

"Don't ask about their summer!" Sirius interrupted him. "It is supposed to be a big secret".

"Oh, shut up Sirius!" Alice said rolling her eyes. "Enough with the summer. If you are really interested, it was very good, thank you."

Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Remus.

"Alice, aren't we supposed to be at the Prefects meeting?"

"I totally forgot about it! Let's go! We're already late." She rushed out the door with Remus behind her.

James sat down next to Lily, on the seat Alice had just left empty.

"James, where's Peter?" Sirius asked. "I though he was with you."

"He was," said James smirking, "but he locked himself in an empty compartment at the very end of the train."

"How in the world did he manage to do that?" Sirius asked trying not to laugh.

"I have no idea, mate," was James' answer.

Looking at James and Sirius' faces Lily had no doubt that the fact that Peter was locked down in a compartment was not an accident.

"And I guess it will be up to me to go rescue poor little Peter before he starts panicking," Sirius continued in the same mock concerned tone.

"If you do that you would be proving what a good friend you are," said James.

Sirius stood up and got very close to James. Their faces barely an inch apart. Sirius was looking straight at James' eyes. And he finally whispered.

"Whose friend?"

He walked over to the door and turned around just before exiting.

"Now, mind your manners, Prongs," said Sirius with a malicious grin on his face.

When Lily turned to face James, she noticed the murderous look he cast his friend.

"Prongs?" she asked.

"Oh! Yes, Prongs. It's a little nickname the guys gave me."

"I guess I never paid attention before, but I think I remember them calling you that." She pondered for a second. "You also call Sirius something, right?"

"Yes. Sirius is Padfood, Remus is Moony and Peter is Wormtail."

"Wormtail? What kind of a nickname is that?" They both laughed. "How did you come up with those anyway?"

"Lily, there you go again asking questions to which you don't want to know the answer. Let's just say that the Marauders needed cool nicknames." He leaned back on the seat and stretched his legs. "Someday I will tell you everything, but it's still too soon for that."

"Knowing you, Potter, I'm not sure if I ever want to know."

They remained silent for a while, watching through the window how the landscape changed as the train moved forward.

"So, how was your summer? If I'm allowed to ask," James finally said.

"Of course you can. For the first time ever I'll have to say that it was not good at all." For the look on his face she could tell James was trying to decide whether or not he should ask what had happened. She answered his unasked question. "It's because of my sister. She hates me and did her best to make my life miserable."

"You have a sister?" Lily suddenly realized how little James really knew about her.

"Yes. Her name is Petunia and she is two years older than me. We used to be very close but when I came to Hogwarts everything changed."

"She's a Muggle then?"

"Yes. I'm the only witch in my family."

"So, what did your sister do?"

"Oh! Nothing really important. She was just mean, always making comments about me being a freak."

"A what!" James sat up straight with his eyes wide open. "She called you a freak? What's wrong with her?"

"Yeah!" Lily couldn't help laughing at James' reaction. "That's what I thought the first time she said that last Christmas. But she just doesn't understand the things that I do at school. And I guess she's also a little bit jealous that my parents pay so much attention to me when I'm at home."

"You are too sweet, you know?" James relaxed again. "She calls you names and you find a way to justify her actions. I really don't know how you do it."

Lily blushed slightly under his intense gaze. "Well, it's the same thing when people call me a Mudblood. Words are not strong enough to hurt me. Besides, it depends on who is the person calling you names."

Now James seemed truly impressed. "You are the bravest girl I know. I remember when Snape called you a… Well, _that_. I wanted to rip his head off."

Lilly bit her lip. There was something she wanted to ask James, but she was not sure how he would take it.

"Can I ask you a favor?" she said cautiously.

"You can ask me anything." He smiled widely.

Lily took a deep breath and said slowly. "Would you let Snape alone?"

Surprise and confusion draw on James' face. He looked like he was looking for the right words but soon enough he seemed to give up and just blurted out.

"Why do you defend him so much?"

"Why do you attack him so much?" she asked him a little louder than she had planned.

"You don't know him Lily. He's not the innocent, helpless little guy that you seem to think."

"But he can't be half as horrible as _you_ seem to think."

"Yes he is. He's a sneaky little grease ball and he hates me."

"You sound like a five-year-old. If he's really that bad, you can be the bigger man and ignore him."

James remained silent for a moment, thinking. His hazel eyes were fixed on her green ones. He sighed loudly and said.

"I can promise you that I won't go looking for trouble with Snape. But that's the best I can do." He leaned back on his seat.

Lily smiled and leaned back next to him. "That's more than I was hoping for."

They sat silently for a while until Lily spoke again.

"What about your summer?"

"Pretty decent, actually," he said without looking at her. "I got myself a roommate."

"A roommate?" She saw his lip curl.

"Sirius. He finally had enough of his family and left. He's living at my house now."

"But why?" James turned to face her.

"Come on Lily! You have met a couple of Blacks, haven't you?"

Lily remembered Narcisa and Bellatrix Black. They were Sirius' cousins and had already graduated from Hogwarts. Like most members of the Black family they had been sorted into Slytherin.

"Well," she said slowly. "Narcisa and Bellatrix are no piece of cake. They think they're better than everybody else because they are purebloods."

"And how about Regulus?" James asked her.

But she didn't think Sirius' little brother was that bad. He was two years younger than them and was also a Slytherin. Lily had always had the impression that he was a lost and confused little kid. He seemed to be just following along with what was expected from him.

"I think Regulus is not all that convinced about the importance of the purity of blood."

"That's what makes it worst. He is just too weak to stand up to his mother and tell her he disagrees with her. He's letting her push him in any direction she wants."

"How come Sirius is not like that?"

"He's just too stubborn to let anyone push him around." He laughed at the thought. "Actually," he added in a more serious tone, "Padfoot is the strongest person I know." He looked into Lily's eyes. "Well, he and you…" He smiled again "… and Moony."

"Are you going to add anyone else in your ever growing list of strong people?" she asked trying to sound amused so he didn't notice that she was truly touched by the fact that he thought she was strong.

"No. That's about it." He grinned widely.

The compartment door swung open to let in Sirius, followed by Peter Pettigrew.

Half and hour later, when Alice and Remus returned to the compartment accompanied by Frank Longbotton, Lily was reading, while Sirius, James and Peter were playing a game of exploding snap. Lily thought that this was the first time she saw Peter being better than Sirius and James at something. He seemed to know that and was enjoying every bit of this unusual experience.

"Hey!" Alice said and everybody looked up. "Do you guys know Frank?"

Sirius, Peter, James and Remus shared a part confused, part amused look. Sirius responded.

"Alice, we're all Gryffindors. Of course we know Frank. He is the coolest prefect ever. Except for Moony here. No offense." He smirked.

"None taken," he said smiling. Lily had the impression that he was thinking the same thing as her. By "the coolest prefect ever" Sirius meant that he never gave the Marauders detention when they broke the rules.

Frank went to sit next to Alice. James and Sirius seemed to have finally understood his presence in the compartment. Peter, on the other hand, only looked interested in getting Sirius and James into the game again.

"Wait. You two…?" James started but he seemed to decide not to ask.

"Yes Potter. We are dating." Frank answered James' unasked question.

James shot Sirius a sideways glance that made Lily suddenly remember that he and Alice had gone out a couple of times last year.

Alice had been interested in Sirius for a long time, just like every other girl in school (with the exception of Lily and maybe one or two Slytherins.) When Sirius finally asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him she was really excited.

Back then Lily thought they had hit it off, but before the Christmas break, it was all over. Lily knew Alice was wishing for a long-term relationship, but Sirius didn't seem to be interested in any type of commitment.

Alice was heart broken, but by the end of the school term she had accepted the fact that everything was over between her and Sirius. Still, Lily was very surprised to hear she was dating Frank now.

Lily glanced at her friend. She, Frank and Peter were immersed in what appeared to be a very interesting conversation about exploding snap tactics and neither of them had noticed the other conversation that was taking place. But this was a silent one. Sirius, James and Remus were communicating without words, just by looking at each other. Lily smiled. She wished she could be part of that, but she was certain that no matter what, there were some things that these three boys would never share with her or anybody else.

Remus was the one who noticed her. She was startled when his brown eyes met hers. She blushed and stared resolutely at her hands folded together in her lap. She felt like an intruder.

Lily looked up when she heard James, Remus and Sirius snickering.

Sirius said, "you know what Evans? I might have been wrong about you all along."

Lily didn't know exactly what he meant, but she was pretty sure it was supposed to be a compliment.

"You know what Black?" she said, "I might have been wrong about you too."

All four of them burst out laughing this time. They laughed even harder when they saw the confused faces of Peter, Alice and Frank.


	2. Back at Hogwarts

**Chapter Two: Back at Hogwarts**

The next morning during breakfast the Gryffindors received their class schedules from their Head of House, Professor Minerva McGonagall. This year they were starting NEWT level classes and Lily was very excited about it. That morning Lily had double Charms, which was by far her favorite subject. Right before lunch the Gryffindor six-years had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. After lunch they had a couple of free hours that Lily was planning to spend in the library, and later they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. After dinner they had Astronomy with the Ravenclaws.

Lily was almost done with her lunch when James stood up and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"Where is James going in such a hurry?" she asked Remus, who was sitting next to her, but it was Sirius the one who replied.

"He has a class."

"A class?" Lily was confused. "I thought we were all free after lunch."

By the look Sirius and Remus shared, Lily understood they were keeping something from her. Peter, who was more interested in his plate, said before any of his friends could stop him.

"He has Muggle Stu…" But Sirius' elbow hitting his ribs made him realize he had said too much.

"We should go." Sirius dragged Peter out of the Great Hall.

Before following his friends, Remus whispered to Lily, "you know why he's doing this, don't you?" And he left without waiting for her response.

What was that supposed to mean? Lily asked herself. Is he doing it for _me_? He can't possibly… We're friends and all, but to take another class. Muggle Studies… Well, it's kind of sweet, and after all, he comes from a pureblood family and mustn't know anything about Muggles.

But he can't be doing it for me.

Even though she tried to make this last statement sound definitive in her head, she couldn't help but smile.

Later that evening Gryffindors and Ravenclaws met at the Astronomy Tower.

Lily stood right behind James and whispered, "so. Muggle Studies?"

He turned around surprised, without his usual confidence.

"Who…?" He turned back to his friends. Remus and Sirius gave Peter an accusatory look. "Peter!"

Peter mumbled something under his breath and Lily talked again.

"It's not such a big deal. Why the big secret?"

"Who said anything about a secret?" James said in a would-be-casual voice.

Lily's smile widened. "I just thought I should offer you my expertise in the subject in case you ever have questions about the bizarre Muggle habits you're studying."

James smiled too. "I'll keep that in mind."

At that moment Professor Venus Starlight called the students into the classroom.

"Good evening class," she said cheerfully when everyone was seated. "This semester we will be studying the moon." She flicked her wand and a silvery orb appeared floating in front of them. "It is a fascinating subject and I'm sure that most of you will truly enjoy it. From now until Christmas break we will meet during the full moon in order to study it. We'll start our 'Moon Classes' in two weeks during September's full moon."

Lily saw James, Sirius and Peter turn to Remus with concern in their faces. Remus, if possible, was paler than usual. He looked like he was going to be sick.

She couldn't stop thinking about their reaction during the entire class. When the students were exiting the classroom Lily noticed that Remus had stayed behind and was talking to Professor Starlight. James, Sirius and Peter were waiting for him in the hallway with the same worried faces they had in class.

"What's going on?" Lily asked them.

"What do you mean?" said James.

"Well, Remus doesn't look very good and you are all worried. Is there something wrong?" Lily saw the three boys gaze at each other awkwardly.

"Evans, you're imagining things." Sirius was the one who talked this time. "Nothing's wrong with Remus or any of us. He just needed to talk to Professor Starlight."

Remus walked out of the classroom putting and end to the conversation. Lily noticed he looked almost as bad as he did after his frequent visits home.

"Remus, are you all right?" she asked. "You don't look so good."

"I'm okay," he said plainly without looking at her.

"Are you sure?" Lily insisted. "You should go to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey can…"

Remus cut her off. "I said I'm okay. Just leave me alone." And he left without another word.

Sirius and Peter hurried after him. James turned to Lily who was feeling confused and hurt. She had never heard Remus raise his voice. Something was definitely wrong with him. They had been friends since their first year. She had always considered him the nicest, kindest, most considerate person she knew.

Lily was not angry with him because of his outburst. She was actually concerned because she knew he was not like that.

"He didn't mean that," James said.

"You know what's wrong with him, don't you?" James looked away. "You _do_ know. Tell me. I care about Remus too."

"Lily." James looked at her for a long moment and took her hands. "If you really care about him just forget about this. He only needs some time."

Lily was not satisfied with that answer. She was about to insist when Sirius came back. He looked at their hands with a raised eyebrow then glared at James.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

James let go of Lily's hands and walked away. Sirius stared at her for a moment then he followed James.

Lily was now sure that something very grave was happening. For the first time since she had known Remus, she realized that there were many strange details about his life. She had always thought that her friend was as transparent as a crystal glass, but now she knew that there were a lot more to him than what she was aware of. Remus had a secret.

When Lily entered the common room she saw Alice sitting alone by the fireplace. She walked over to her and sat on her favorite armchair.

"Where's Frank?" Lily asked.

"He went to his room. He needed peace and quiet to study." Alice rolled her eyes. "How can anybody start obsessing about NEWTs on the first day of classes?"

Lily shrugged, to please Alice more than anything. She was sure she would also start obsessing about NEWTs long before most of her classmates did.

"Have you seen Remus?" Lily asked.

"Yes. He stormed in a while ago and went straight to his room. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing. I just thought he seemed a bit odd in class."

"I didn't notice. But tell me, what do you think about our next Astronomy classes?"

"I think they will be very interesting. I agree with Professor Starlight, the moon is fascinating."

"Well, I'm not all that crazy about it myself."

"No? I thought you were going to say that the moon was so romantic…" Lily smirked at her friend.

"What can be romantic about werewolves running around? I prefer any other night of the month."

Lily could hear her friend's voice but she was really not paying attention to the rest of Alice's rant, because she was thinking about a word she had said. Werewolves. That single world had clicked inside Lily's brain and had started an avalanche of ideas and conjectures. Some of them were so far fetched that Lily had to press her hands to her head shutting her eyes tightly to make them stop.

"Are you all right?" Alice's voice finally reached her.

"I have a headache," she lied. "I'm going to bed."

Lily entered her room and leaned over her trunk. It had to be in there, she never left any of her books home.

They studied werewolves in their third year. Back then Lily though the lesson was not good at all. Professor Idius Dragonheart, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, always made them study every lesson thoroughly. But in Lily's opinion, the lesson on werewolves lacked a lot of information. It barely covered the basics. But she had read about werewolves in the textbook.

Here it is! She thought.

Lily took the book out of her trunk and read the title on the cover. _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander. She opened it and went straight to the page she was looking for.

"Werewolf," she read slowly. "The werewolf is found worldwide, though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe. Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten. There is no cure. Once a month, at the full moon, the otherwise sane and normal wizard or Muggle afflicted transforms into a murderous beast. Almost uniquely among fantastic creatures, the werewolf actively seeks humans in preference to any other prey."

Lily sat silently on her bed analyzing what she had just read. "I need more information." She hastily shoved the book under her pillow when she heard the door. It was Alice.

"I thought you were already sleeping," Alice said.

"I was looking for an aspiring in my trunk." Lily felt a pinch of guilt for lying to her friend, but she couldn't say anything about her suspicion. No until she was certain.

"A what?"

"An aspirin." Lily smiled. She always forgot how little her friend knew about Muggle life. "It's a Muggle pain killer. I thought I had a bottle in my trunk."

"Are you sure you should be taking Muggle medications?"

"Alice, I've taken aspirin for my headaches all my life."

"If it's really that bad you should go see Madam Pomfrey. I'll go with you."

"No. It's too late. We should get some sleep."


	3. Apologies, Research and Palmistry

**Chapter Three: Apologies, Research and Palmistry**

A/N: I know absolutely nothing about Palmistry, so whatever it's "seen" in the characters' future in this chapter is only serving the story (not this story, but JK's story). So if there are any palm readers reading this, my apologies.

The next morning Lily noticed that Remus was not in the Great Hall during breakfast. She saw James, Sirius and Peter seating with their heads together talking softly. She was about to ask where Remus was but Alice beat her to it.

"Good morning Marauders! Where's Remus?" she asked taking a seat in front of them. Lily sat next to her.

Either they were not expecting to be talked to or they were not expecting to be asked about Remus, because the three boys jumped on their seats startled.

"Oh! Hi Alice, Lily!" James said. "Remus said he was not hungry."

"He's been acting weird since yesterday. Do you know what's wrong with him?" Alice insisted.

"I don't know what you mean," said Sirius quickly. "Same old Remus as always. Just not hungry."

Lily looked at James who was gazing intently at his half eaten breakfast.

No one talked again and after a while they all left the Great Hall to go to their classes. Lily went up the stairs to go to the Arithmancy classroom while James, Sirius, Peter and Alice walked outside the castle to their Care of Magical Creatures class.

Lily used to enjoy that class very much. Professor Kettleburn was very knowledgeable in the subject and his classes were very interesting. However, this year she had to make a choice between Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy and she had chosen the later. Remus did the same.

When she arrived at the classroom, there was only one student present. The lanky boy was seating next to the only window. He didn't seem to notice Lily's arrival because he was immersed in the book he was reading.

Lily walked over to him and put a napkin with some toasts on top of the book. Remus looked up.

"James and Sirius said you were not hungry, but I brought you some toasts in case you changed your mind."

Remus gave her a weak smile and the dark circles under his eyes almost disappeared.

"Thanks," he said starting to nibble on a toast. "I'm really sorry about yesterday, Lily. You were genuinely concerned about me and I was very rude. Sorry I was so short with you."

"It's really no big deal Remus. I only wish you could trust me enough to tell me when something is bothering you." Lily saw sadness in Remus' brown eyes and his face was again tired and pale.

"Nothing is bothering me. I guess I was tired," he said looking down at his Arithmancy book again.

Lily was going to respond but students were starting to arrive. She noticed that this was a small class, even though there were six-year students from all houses. The biggest group was from Ravenclaw, four girls and two boys. There were also three Hufflepufs. Lily and Remus were the only two Gryffindors taking the class and right at the last minute the only Slytherin student walked in. It was Severus Snape.

He looked at Lily and Remus with an obvious annoyed attitude. In years before Gryffindors took this class with Hufflepuffs and Slytherins with Ravenclaws. Snape didn't appear to be pleased with the new arrangement.

At the end of the class Remus and Lily walked out of the classroom chatting animatedly. Even though their friends thought they were crazy, they both enjoyed Arithmancy classes very much. Snape caught up with them and said with a sneer.

"All by yourselves? Where's the rest of your clique?"

Lily turned to Remus but he didn't seem to be bothered by Snape's comment.

"Severus, are you looking for confrontation already? I'm sorry to say that you came to the wrong people."

"Don't think I can't see right through you, Lupin," Snape said in a low, dangerous voice. "You're always pretending to be so civil and so self-restrained, but it's just because you believe you are better than everybody else. Out of the four of you, you are by far the worst."

"That was uncalled for, Severus." Lily was appalled. She had never had anything against Snape, but he was the one who came looking for trouble.

"Never mind, Lily," Remus said conciliatory. "I'm very sorry you have never trusted me Severus. You may have your reasons, but I know I've never done anything to you."

"You're right, Lupin," Snape said. "You have never done _anything_ at all." And with that he left.

"What's his problem?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think Severus believes I should intervene when Sirius and James misbehave with him." He shrugged. "I guess he's right. After all I'm a Prefect and I should be able to control them." Remus sighted.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Remus." Lily patted him gently on the arm. "I used to think you should be more forceful with that pair of pranksters, but now that I've been closer to you guys, I know that you are the only thing standing between Sirius and James and total mayhem. They listen to you."

"You're probably right. Besides when it's Snape doing the hexing I don't flash my Prefect badge on his nose either." Remus frowned. "The way he talks you would think I abuse my position to benefit my friends."

"Don't even think about that. The people who are close to you know you are not like that at all."

They had arrived to the Potions classroom to find that Alice, James, Sirius and Peter were already there. Since their first year at Hogwarts, the Gryffindors had shared the Potions classes with the Slytherins, and none of them enjoyed that. Lily could see the murderous glares that Snape and James were giving each other.

After a double Potions class, the Gryffindors had lunch and then went to the Transfiguration classroom where their Head of House, Professor McGonagall, was waiting for them. This class was also double, but they didn't have to share it with students from other houses. Transfiguration was a very difficult subject and the NEWT level lessons were particularly hard. Professor McGonagall was very strict and demanding when it came to her class and she expected the best effort from every one of her students.

Sirius and James were the best students in the class. Ever since their first year they were in a far more advanced level than everybody else. Back then Lily used to struggle with this subject, but she soon decided that she wouldn't give "that Potter guy" the satisfaction of teasing her, so she had always worked harder and she had managed to be in the top of the class. Even so, she knew she was not as talented and skilled as James or Sirius. But now she didn't resent them for that.

After Transfiguration Alice went to her Divination class. Lily thought it was such a waste of time but she had never been able to talk Alice out of taking that class. For some strange reason she found it fascinating.

Lily said goodbye to the Marauders too. She had to go to her Ancient Runes class (Alice had tried to talk Lily out of taking that class, but she wouldn't hear about it.) and they were free. James said they were going to the common room to study, but Lily knew better. In all the years she had known them, she had never seen Sirius or James studying. Remus did it all the time, but he actually enjoyed it. And Peter… Well, Peter had no other choice but to study as hard as he could and still, his grades were always very low. Sirius and James, on the other hand were always within the top ten students in their year (and that's counting the Ravenclaws.)

Lily had always amazed about it. She was also in the top of their class, but she did study. Like Remus, she also did it because she enjoyed it, but she was certain that she could not keep her high grades if she spent most of her time planning pranks.

Once her class was over and since she was alone and didn't have to make up excuses, Lily went straight to the library. She walked through the shelves looking for books on werewolves.

She was anxious and jumpy, glancing often to the entrance because she didn't want to get caught by her friends or anyone that could find her sudden interest strange.

She grabbed a couple of books, sat on the farthest table and started reading. After a couple of minutes she was so immersed in her reading that she forgot about everything that surrounded her (something that happened every time she was reading.)

The books she chose were very helpful. Less than an hour later Lily knew all there was to know about werewolves. She had read about how to tell apart a werewolf from a regular wolf. She had also found a book that listed the signs to recognize when a person was a werewolf. Lily learned that the Ministry of Magic had a set of protocols to deal with werewolves and that there was a Registry that contained the names of every person bitten by a werewolf. Of course, unlike the Animagi Registry, that was not the sort of information that was available for everybody.

While she was reading, Lily realized that many of the writers of the books didn't appear to think that werewolves were in fact human beings afflicted with a terrible condition. Most of the books were too scientific and cold. It was like reading about Acromantulas or Basilisks. Nothing more than dangerous beasts. Lily had the impression that this was the general opinion on the subject. She could still remember Alice's reaction.

Lily had never before wanted to be wrong as much as she did now.

"Here you are! Aren't you going to have dinner?" Lily looked up to find Alice walking toward her. She tried unsuccessfully to hide the books, but Alice was already next to her.

"Werewolves? That's not for a class, is it?"

"Well, no." Lily gathered the books and went to put them back in their place. "I was just curious." She was hoping that Alice would just drop the subject, but she was truly intrigued. She followed Lily through the shelves.

"What can be so interesting about werewolves anyway?" Alice asked with a frown.

"Nothing. It's just that you mentioned them last night and I realized I don't know that much about them. That's all." The two girls were now walking out of the library in the direction of the Great Hall.

"Forget about the books. I'll tell you what you need to know about werewolves: stay away from them."

Lily was sure that Alice was overreacting, but she thought it was best to change the subject. She didn't want to risk being heard talking about werewolves by James, Sirius, Remus or Peter.

"How about Divination?" Lily knew she would regret it later, but she needed to get Alice talking about something else.

"Fascinating!" she said, forgetting about the werewolves in an instant. "Would you let me read your hand?"

"Alice, you know I don't believe in fortune telling."

"Divination is not fortune telling!" Alice exclaimed offended. "It's one of the most ancient disciplines of magic."

"It may be, but the future is so unpredictable that it can not be foretold. I hate the idea of having no choice but to follow a pre-established destiny."

"Lily, dear, just because some things can't be learned out of books, doesn't mean they are not important."

"Then tell me, how many of your predictions have come true?"

Alice was taken aback by this question. She opened her mouth and closed it again several times without saying a world. Lily knew her punch was a little below the belt, but she was having too much fun at Alice's expense to really care.

"Well," Alice finally managed to say coldly, "Divination is not an exact science. Predictions can't be leveled and measured like potion ingredients. And as much as I hate to admit it, I know I'm not a true seer. I only enjoy the class."

They were already taking seats at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"I'm sorry I was mean," Lily said.

"You were mean, Evans?" Lily heard Sirius' mocking voice behind her. She turned around and saw him with James, Remus and Peter. "Do you want me to hex her for you, Alice?"

Sirius and Remus sat in front of the girls; James sat next to Lily and Peter next to James.

"Sirius," Alice said once they were all seating. "First of all, you shouldn't intrude in conversations that don't concern you, and second, I can do my own hexing, thank you very much."

Sirius pursed his lips and glared at Alice while all the others burst out laughing. James leaned in close to Lily and said so only she could hear.

"Besides, you couldn't have really been mean to her."

Lily gazed at him. "You don't even know what I told her," she said.

"I know you don't know how to be mean." For a moment Lily though he was pulling her strings, but there was sincerity in his eyes. And his smile… It was one of those smiles that took her breath away.

"Lily!" Alice's voice brought Lily back to reality.

"What!" She turned to her friend.

"Are you going to let me read your hand?" Alice asked impatiently.

"I'd rather clean all the caldrons after a particularly messy Potions class. Without magic." Lily said with a sweet smile.

"But you have to do this for me," Alice pleaded. "That's my homework. You wouldn't let me get a low grade, would you?"

"Why don't you read Sirius'?" Lily said in a whiny voice.

"Why me?" he protested.

"I will read Sirius', and James', and Remus', and Peter's. But I also need to read yours."

"Okay," Lily said grudgingly.

"Aren't you going to read mine?" asked Frank who had just arrived and was taking a seat next to Alice.

She smiled, gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and said. "One is not supposed to try to read the palm of a love interest."

"And why is that?" James asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because one's feelings would cloud the inner eye and instead of seeing that person's future one will only see what one wants to see," she said in a dramatic voice.

Lily, James, Sirius, Peter, Remus and even Frank started laughing hysterically. Alice gave them an offended look, but after a couple of seconds she realized the absurdity of her statement and joined the laughter.

Later that evening they all sat in the common room. Alice had brought her Divination textbook to help her interpret the signs she would find in their palms.

"Lily, can you take notes for me?" she asked giving her a roll of parchment and a quill.

"I have a better idea," Lily said pulling out her wand. She placed the quill and the parchment on top of a nearby table and tapped it with her wand. The quill promptly levitated on top of the parchment. Lily said, "Divination Homework: Palmistry. Number one: James Potter."

To everyone's amazement the quill was writing everything that Lily was saying.

"How did you do that?" Peter asked in awe.

"Just a little charm I learned the other day," she said, trying unsuccessfully not to look very pleased with herself.

"I bet that's pretty useful," said Sirius.

"It is," Lily responded.

"I only have one question," James said.

"Yes?" Lily asked.

"Why do I have to go first?"

"Well, someone had to be first. Why not you?"

"That's enough you two," Alice intervened. "Let's get started. Give me your hand James."

He held out his hand and Alice took it. She looked at it for a while consulting her textbook.

"Oh my!" she said suddenly.

"What!" exclaimed James.

"You have the shortest lifeline I've ever seen," she said gazing at James' hand.

"Aren't you supposed to save all the bad news till the end?" James asked with a frown.

"Hush!" Alice said without looking up. "The end of your life line is not very clear…" She consulted her textbook and then said, excited, "I think you are going to die as a result of a terrible plot against you. Probably someone will betray you."

"Can you please not be so happy about my untimely death?" James was definitely not enjoying this.

"Sorry. This is the first time I do this. I'm just excited. Let's continue. I can see that you won't have any money problems…"

"But everybody knows that," Peter interrupted her. "His parents have a lot of gold and he's an only child. Of course he's going to get everything."

"I really need to concentrate to do this. So stop interrupting me." Alice glared at Peter. "Ah! Here's something you'll probably like. You'll have a son."

"A son? Me?" James' face illuminated as if this was more than just a dumb game. "I'll teach him to fly as soon as he can walk. He will be the best Gryffindor chaser ever. Even better than me. A new generation of Potters at Hogwarts."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, mate," Sirius said with a malicious grin. "But you'll probably be dead way before the kid can walk."

James didn't seem the least bit bothered by being reminded of Alice's first prediction. If anything he seemed even more amused.

"Then you have to promise you'll turn my son into a Quidditch player I can be proud of. I know! You'll be his Godfather."

Sirius smiled widely and said, "I'll teach him that and a lot of other stuff. You just worry about picking the mother."

"It's you Lily," James said in a very serious voice.

"It's me what?" she asked cautiously.

"It's your turn to get your palm read. You chose me to be first and I choose you to be second."

"Whatever James," she said holding her hand out in front of Alice. "I'm not afraid of what she can tell me."

"Wow!" exclaimed Alice looking at Lily's hand.

"What!" Lily jumped on her seat startled.

"Your palm is so similar to James' that it's like reading his all over again."

"Can that be because you don't really know what you are doing?" asked Lily acidly.

"No." Alice glared at her friend. "Your lifeline is as short as his. You won't have to worry about money either. And you too will have a son."

"That's rubbish," Lily said pulling her hand. "James and I can't have the same future."

"Unless you two are going to have a future together." Remus' tone was completely serious, but there was laughter in the depth of his eyes.

Lily didn't dare to turn to look at James. She knew his gaze was fixed on her and she could already feel her cheeks getting hot.

"This is getting very interesting," said Sirius. "Do mine now."

Alice took Sirius' hand and looked silently at it for a while.

"So?" Sirius urged her. "Am I going to die too?"

Alice rolled her eyes and said, "well, of course you are going to die too, Sirius. But your lifeline is longer than James and Lily's. Though the last part of it looks different. Let me see what that means." She consulted the book and said, "this is weird. It says that your last years you'll be living a half-life. Whatever that means."

"Aren't you supposed to tell me exactly what it means?"

"You know? This is the first time I do this and Divination is not an exact science. I can only tell you what I see."

"Okay. But do I get a kid?"

"No. Now shut up." Alice gazed at Sirius' palm again and said, "It looks like you're going to die at the hands of a kin. That can't be."

"Oh yes! It can," Sirius said bitterly. "And to be honest, it doesn't even surprise me."

"Well, here's some good news: you won't have to worry about money either."

"But I doubt it will be my family's gold. My mother decided I'm not worthy to belong to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. I've been officially erased from the family tree."

They all looked at Sirius gravely, but he waved at them dismissively. "Oh! Don't worry about it. If you know any other Blacks, you know I got the best end of the bargain." He turned to Alice." Why don't you read Wormtail's now?"

Peter held out his small, chubby hand reluctantly and Alice took it.

"Well, you have the longest lifeline yet. But like Sirius, it looks like you're going to live a half-life."

"He will probably spend most of his life hiding," said James laughing. "Our little Peter is not exactly the bravest Gryffindor around."

"But you should know James," Alice interrupted him. "That it looks like Peter will do something that will change many people's lives. Probably yours too."

"Me?" Peter asked shyly.

"Yes." Alice browsed through her book and said. "I don't like this."

"What?" Peter shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

"This line here. It says that you are not trustworthy."

"Of all the predictions you have made tonight, Alice, that's the most improbable," said Sirius. "Peter untrustworthy? That's laughable, really."

"Say what you want. I'm just reading what I see." Alice then turned to Remus, who had stayed out of the conversation as if he was hoping that everyone would forget about him. "Your turn Remus."

"Haven't you had enough already. I've read that seers need to rest after a couple of readings."

"Don't be silly, Remus. Give me your hand."

"Do it Moony," Sirius said. "It's not like she has got anything right."

Alice glared at Sirius, but when it looked like she was ready to respond Remus gave her his hand.

"You can relax now," Alice told Remus. "You'll be happy to know that you'll outlive every one of them." She motioned with her head to Lily, James, Sirius and Peter.

"Oh! I'll be old and friendless. Explain to me how that makes me happy." There was definitely sarcasm in Remus' voice.

"This is interesting…" Alice grabbed her book again. After browsing through a couple of pages she looked up still holding Remus' hand and declared, "Remus has a secret."

Remus yanked his hand and stood up. "This is dumb. And I believe you already have enough for your homework." He turned on his heel and left.

"What's wrong with him?" Alice asked confused.

"It's nothing," said James standing up. "He's just tired. We all are. It's late. We should probably go too."

Sirius and Peter stood up as fast as he said that and the three boys left. Just before going up the stairs, Sirius turned around and said with a charming smile.

"Goodnight ladies."

Lily lifted the charm from the quill and then gathered her own books. Alice was reading the parchment of the palmistry session. After a while Alice said.

"You're right Lily. Remus is acting very odd."

"Well, Alice, you have to understand that not everybody likes to know about their future. You know that for me Divination is quite disturbing. Maybe Remus thinks like me."

"Maybe."

"It's late. Let's go to bed."


	4. Quidditch Captain

Thanks for the feedback LilJester, webling-girl05, riduculouslyriddikulus, TickleMepInK21, and BigBlackDog13.

**Chapter Four: Quidditch Captain**

At the end of the first week of classes, Lily was having breakfast with her friends when Professor McGonagall approached the Gryffindor table.

"Mr. Potter," she said.

James jumped up as if he was sitting on a spring. "Yes Professor?" he asked with apprehension in his voice.

"I need to see you today in my office," the woman said.

"In your office?" James looked at his friends.

"Oh! Relax Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall sternly. "You have nothing to be afraid of. Unless your conscience is not very clean."

"Of course it is Professor," he said a little too fast. "As clean as it can be."

"I don't doubt that. I'll be expecting you in my office after your Defense Against the Dark Arts class." With that she returned to the staff table.

James sat down on his place again and Peter asked, "what does she wants to talk to you about, Prongs?"

"Gee Wormtail! Why don't you ask Alice? She's the one that can see the future," James snapped exasperated.

"Do you think she found out about the plan?" Sirius asked in a whisper.

"Of course not," said Remus. "Besides if this was about the plan, she would be wanting to see all four of us in her office."

"The thing is that I'll have to wait until five in the afternoon to find out what this is about. I'll go crazy before the day is over."

"Relax, Prongs," said Sirius. "We have done this too many times before. We have perfected the art of mischief. You know we can't start looking guilty."

"Especially if we haven't done anything yet," added Remus.

"You're right. It's just that McGonagall seems to be the only one that never falls for my charm."

"I'm afraid she's not the only one, mate," Sirius said with a grin.

Suddenly James looked up at Lily as if he had just remembered that she was sitting right in front of him and listening to every bit of their conversation.

"So," Lily said. "I guess your conscience is not that clean after all."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Lily," James said flashing one of his trademark charming smiles.

"Don't even try it, James. I'm pretty sure Sirius was referring to me when he said that Professor McGonagall is not the only one who doesn't fall for your charm. Am I right Sirius?" Lily gazed at Sirius, who was staring resolutely at his breakfast.

"You do fall for my charm, Evans. You're just playing hard to get," James said with an arrogant look in his face.

Lily's smile disappeared. She stared at him for a long moment, completely dumb struck at his statement, but before she could speak, he was talking again.

"I'm kidding, Lily. You can start breathing again."

"You know what James Potter?" Lily asked glaring at him. "You are the most annoying person I've ever met."

"I know," he said sweetly. "Actually, I'm very proud of that."

Lily was about to retort but then she realized something.

"Wait! Are you being this obnoxious to distract me from the fact that you guys are planning your first prank of the year?"

"It will not be the first one." Lily glared at him. "But yes, you caught me."

"James!" But she instantly realized it was a lost battle. "Remus!" She turned to him looking for support.

"Lily, I can assure you that it's harmless," he muttered avoiding her eyes.

"Since when the Marauders need the approval of little Miss Perfect here?" Sirius was obviously annoyed.

"Well, if you needed my approval, Sirius, you would not misbehave once in the whole year."

"I'm pretty sure of that," he snapped at her. "But we have always avoided being that boring. We're not about to start now."

"Enough!" said Remus calmly holding up both his hands. "Sirius, Lily, stop it. We don't want to make a scene in front of everybody."

Sirius stood up and left the Great Hall followed closely by Peter. Remus looked at Lily for a moment and then followed Sirius and Peter. James was the last one who got up. When he was walking out of the Great Hall Lily caught up with him.

"James!" she called out.

He turned around. Lily opened her mouth to talk but he held up a hand and she stopped.

"No need to apologize. Yes, you were completely out of line, but let's just forget about it."

It took Lily a couple of seconds to understand what he had just said. She could feel her blood boiling with anger. The nerve of that guy!

"What! Who said anything about an apology?" He was taken aback by her tone. "I only wanted to say that even though you have proven to be very stupid in the past, it would be a very good idea to grow up already."

Lily didn't wait for his response. She was so furious that it took her a while to realize she was walking directly to the library when she was supposed to go to her Charms class. She turned around and hurried to class.

Lily did her best to avoid James, Peter, Remus and Sirius the whole day. Although they didn't seem to be upset about it. Remus would glance at her apologetically every once in a while, but Sirius would only glare at her. James didn't even look at her.

At the end of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class she saw James walk reluctantly in the direction of Professor McGonagall's office. She saw him say goodbye to his friends with a weak smile and the three of them gave him very unconvincing thumbs-up.

For the first time since breakfast Lily thought that maybe she was indeed overreacting. She knew their pranks were generally harmless, as Remus had said. And she trusted James enough to be sure that he would keep his promise of leaving Snape alone.

Maybe Sirius was right and she was just an annoying little Miss Perfect. There was no way she was going to be able to change them. She might as well accept them the way they were.

Granted, they could be very obnoxious, but lately she had discovered that they were good friends. The kind of friends you want to have around, especially if you're in a tight spot. They were smart, loyal and (even though she would probably never admit it to them) fun to be around.

Lily was happy now that things had changed between her and the Marauders and she didn't want their relationship to go back to what it was their previous years at Hogwarts.

She entered the common room and saw Alice sitting with Frank in front of the fire. Remus, Sirius and Peter were sitting silently in a corner.

Alice waved at Lily and she walked over and sat on an armchair in front of the couple.

"I know that look," Alice said raising an eyebrow. "You feel guilty about the row you had with James and Sirius this morning.

"Be honest with me Alice. Did I overreact?"

"I don't want to have a fight with you, but I think you did."

"Lily, if you want my advice," said Frank. "And I'm speaking as a Prefect here. Let them be. They're not bad people. They have never harmed anybody. Physically, I mean. That's why people like them. They're funny and crazy but they know when to stop. Well, most of the time."

"Frank's right Lily. That's the same way Remus and I see it. As long as they don't cross the line, I'm not against a little clean fun," Alice added.

"The thing is that I'm not sure they always know when to stop," Lily said.

"I think you're still a little predisposed against their pranks because you used to be their second favorite target. But that's all in the past now," Alice said.

"Besides, you know why they did it, don't you?" Frank asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Lily and Frank and Alice snickered.

"The only reason why James used to tease you so much was because he wanted you to notice him," Frank said knowledgeably.

"What goes to prove how thick men can be," Alice added.

"You guys keep saying he liked me, but it's a little hard to believe that, knowing that the only other soul he enjoyed tormenting more than me was Snape," Lily said bitterly. "I honestly used to think he didn't like me at all."

"Well Lily," said Frank. "I'll have to agree with Alice. Men are very thick sometimes."

"So," Alice said after a while. "Why do you think Professor McGonagall wanted to see James?"

"Probably she's giving him detention for something," said Lily.

"I'm not sure about that," said Frank. Both girls turned to him. "Don't look at me like that. I have no idea what she wanted with him. I know one thing, though. When Minerva McGonagall is about to discipline a student, patience is not her strongest suit. She would have done it this morning instead of making him wait all day. I can't believe you haven't notice that before."

Lily thought that Frank was probably right, but her attention was now on the Marauders. The three boys were apparently tired of waiting for James and decided to go look for him.

Lily was finishing an essay about the Goblin Rebellions for her History of Magic class (she was not sure why Professor Binns was so obsessed with Goblin Rebellions. It seemed like that was the only thing they had ever studied in that class) when James, Sirius, Remus and Peter entered the common room. They didn't seem upset. As a matter of fact, they appeared to be very pleased about something.

Sirius dragged James to the middle of the room and said so everyone could hear him.

"My fellow Gryffindors, can I have your attention please." He was acting in a way that remembered Lily of a peacock. When everybody's attention was on him, Sirius continued. "It is with great pleasure that I introduce you the new Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, my friend, Mr. James Potter."

There were general signs of approval and enthusiasm. Mostly everybody (including Alice and Frank) walked over to James to congratulate him and talk about Gryffindor's possibilities of winning the Quidditch Cup this year.

Lily was not really the most passionate Quidditch fan, but she knew how important it was for her classmates to win the cup. She also knew what it meant for James to be named Captain of the team. He loved Quidditch and he loved flying on his broom. And right now he was enjoying the attention he was receiving.

Lily saw James talking animatedly about his plans for the team and she couldn't help but smile. He was smiling widely too. She realized it was the first smile she had seen on his face in the whole day. He must have been really worried about his meeting with Professor McGonagall. But now he was smiling. She had missed his beautiful smile today. She was truly happy for him.

Suddenly James turned to her, smiling still, she smiled back. He winked at her and turned back to the people he was talking to.

Lily new everything was fine between them now. He was not angry with her anymore. The thought made her feel at ease. They would have plenty of time to talk some other time.

She went to bed.


	5. James, the Bully

Thanks for the feedback riduculouslyriddikulus and huge euge.

**Chapter Five: James, the Bully**

The next week appeared to last forever. It was only Wednesday but Lily was already craving for the weekend. All the teachers were sending an awful lot of homework. They didn't seem to care that the NEWTs were more than a year away, and Lily and Alice had been very busy with classes.

Lily hadn't seen much of James (except during classes and meals) because he too was very busy with his newly acquired Quidditch Captain responsibilities. He was planning to hold tryouts on the upcoming Friday to fill the open positions. Three of the players had graduated the previous year and the Gryffindor team needed a new beater, keeper and seeker.

Lily knew this had James in a not-so-cheerful mood. He wanted to win the Quidditch Cup on his first year as Captain. Gryffindor had won the cup for the previous three years and he was determined to keep that record.

That day they had sat through a particularly complicated Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which got everyone in a bad mood. They were starting to study the Patronus charm. It was a very difficult charm that required a great deal of concentration and mental power. It was used as a protection against Dementors. Lily had never seen a Dementor but she had read about them. They were the guards of Azkaban, the wizarding prison.

"Why do we have to learn that?" asked a plump Hufflepuff girl. Lily always had trouble remembering her name. "Aren't they supposed to be on our side?"

"For the time being," said Professor Idius Dragonheart gravely. "But Dementors are fowl creatures. They don't mind if the person in front of them is guilty or innocent. They will attack anyone they can. Besides, it's required material for your Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT."

Even though Lily was usually very good with charms she had trouble casting the spell. At the end of the class she was the only one that had managed to produce a vague and shapeless silvery mist. However, Professor Dragonheart was very pleased by it and told her that even though that was not close to a corporeal Patronus, it was very impressive that she could have done it on her first attempt.

He had sent them a two-parchment essay about the Patronus charm. And it was exactly that what Lily was doing when James, Sirius, Remus and Peter entered the common room later that evening. James was obviously furious. He walked toward Lily and sat on the couch next to the one she was sitting on. Sirius, who had a weird look in his eyes, sat on the arm of Lily's couch.

"Hey Evans! Ask my friend James what he will be doing the next five evenings," he said trying hard to keep his voice even.

James gave him a murderous look, but Lily knew them well enough to guess what was going on.

"So, what did you get detention for this time, James?" Sirius, Remus and Peter started laughing so hard that a group of seventh years that were studying for their NEWTs turned and shush them annoyed. James didn't seem to find her question funny.

"Oh! Evans is making jokes now. Ha! Ha! She is hilarious."

"Come on, Prongs. It was funny," said Sirius, even though he didn't sound the least bit amused. "What you should be asking, Evans, is not what he got detention for, but how he got caught," he added, looking rather angry this time.

"Sirius is right James. You shouldn't have let Flitwick catch you." Peter sounded disappointed.

"Shut up you gits!" Apparently James was loosing his patience.

"Actually Prongs, you should tell her why you got in trouble," Sirius insisted with a malicious grin. "She would be so proud."

"Sirius, shut up! I'm telling you." This time James' voice was cold.

"Oh stop it!" said Sirius standing up. He now seemed to be mad at James. "We're just teasing you, mate. But I forgot you're no fun when you're around little Miss Perfect."

James stood up and planted himself in front of Sirius. Peter seemed to shrink on the chair he was sitting on. James and Sirius examined each other, their faces so close that their noses were almost touching. Lily though they were going to have a fistfight, until Remus put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"That's enough," he said calmly. "Padfoot, you stepped a little over the line."

"Oh sure, take _his_ side Moony. I forgot I was talking to the Lily Evans fan club." He grabbed his backpack and walked toward the stairs. James made an attempt to follow him, but Remus stopped him.

"I'll talk to him. You stay here for a while."

Remus looked at Peter, who followed him up the stairs without a word. Lily turned to James, who had sat down again and was now pressing his palms to his temples. He looked tired and frustrated.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked.

"Sirius is a moron," he said simply.

"Why is he mad at you? And me, for that matter."

"He's not mad at you." He grinned. "He just hates me right now because I got detention for a stupid reason and ruined a plan we've been working on for weeks."

Lily was not sure if she wanted to know the answer, but she asked anyway.

"So, are you going to tell me why you got detention?"

He let out a sigh and said, "Snape."

"What! I thought you said you were going to leave him alone."

"No. I said I was not going to start anything with him. But I will certainly get myself into any situation that he has already started."

"What happened now?"

"He was terrorizing a first year Ravenclaw. Apparently the kid didn't see him and bump him. When I got there Snape was ready to hex him."

Lily looked at James trying to understand what he just told her. For a moment she wondered if he was lying. No. There was only sincerity and indignation in his eyes.

"And you stopped him?"

"Yes. Threw him a good hex. But Flitwick was walking out of a classroom and all he saw was me hexing Snape. He didn't care very much about explanations."

"And the Ravenclaw kid? He didn't tell Flitwick what was going on?

"He was out of there before I could even finish hexing Snape. Sirius is furious because I got in trouble for a Ravenclaw."

"Why did you do it?"

He looked perplexed as if the answer was pretty obvious.

"Snape was going to hex the kid. And believe me, he didn't seemed to be planning on using a tickling charm." James tightened his grip on his wand. "The big bully."

Lily couldn't help but laugh at his last comment.

"I never thought I'd see the day when James Potter was going to call someone else a bully." She realized too late that her reaction had been a mistake. James seemed truly hurt. "I'm sorry James, but you have to understand that to hear you referring to another person as a bully, being a bully yourself, it's hilarious."

He stood up and said, "you know what? You're right, maybe I am a bully, but I've never bullied someone who couldn't defend himself." And he left.

Lily watched him walk up the stairs without so much as looking back. She realized that maybe she had been mistaken about James Potter all these past years. Granted, he was a troublemaker, he enjoyed pulling pranks on people, but his pranks were harmless. He was never mean or cruel to anybody. With the exception of Snape, he was always nice and pleasant to everybody. She finally understood why everybody seemed to like James. He was really not arrogant and obnoxious. The fact that he was so confident and so charming made him irresistible.

I can't believe I used to find him annoying, she thought as she walked toward her dorm.


End file.
